About 8.8 million tons of plastic accumulate in the oceans each year, but only about 270,000 tons are believed to be floating on the surface.
For years, most scientists have thought that the "missing" plastic quickly degrades after entering the ocean, breaking apart into microplastics — tiny fragments less than 5 millimeters long — then falling to the bottom of the ocean.
Image: A plastic item floating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Ocean Cleanup
